The transition From Design, Research & Innovation to Fabrication...In the Real World is a foundational challenge in architecture and engineering.  The journey of turning a design concept into a tangible built form is a complex, multi-stage process that fundamentally bridges the gap between the theoretical and the actual.  The course will review a formulaic approach we have used at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, highlighting both a product development partnership with a global leader in access solutions and a completely custom bent, laminated fluted glass interior partition solution originally intended to be a polymer-coated series of borosilicate fluted glass tubes. The 5 stages explain how design excellence can align with rigorous safety testing and established fabrication processes to create unique solutions that are attainable:1 Design & Digital Solutions using 2D and 3D digital drawings and physical models2 Research & Prototyping with materials testing and prototype optimization 3 Collaboration & Refinement with Contractors and Fabricators from iterative detailing to value engineering input4 Fabrication & Testing utilizing mock-up fabrication, functional and safety testing5 Installation & QC incorporating lessons learned in the collaborative mock-up processThese case studies will be presented with real world insight and specific examples of a reproducible process.